Transcribed Excerpts from Treaty of Paris, 1783
The Definitive Treaty of Peace 1783
In the Name of the most Holy & undivided Trinity.
It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the Hearts of the most Serene and most
Potent Prince George the Third, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland...
and of the United States of America, to forget all past Misunderstandings and Differences that
have unhappily interrupted the good Correspondence and Friendship which they mutually wish
to restore; and to establish such a beneficial and satisfactory Intercourse between the two
countries... as may promote and secure to both perpetual Peace and Harmony... have agreed
upon and confirmed the following Articles.
Article 1st:
His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States... for himself, his Heirs & Successors,
relinquishes all claims to the Government, Propriety, and Territorial Rights of the same and
every Part thereof.
Article 2d:
And that all Disputes which might arise in future on the subject of the Boundaries of the said
United States may be prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared, that the following are and
shall be their Boundaries, viz.; from the Northwest Angle of Nova Scotia, viz., that Angle which is
formed by a Line drawn due North from the Source of St. Croix River to the Highlands; along the
said Highlands which divide those Rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from
those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the northwesternmost Head of Connecticut River;
Thence down along the middle of that River to the forty-fifth Degree of North Latitude; From
thence by a Line due West on said Latitude until it strikes the River Iroquois or Cataraquy;
Thence along the middle of said River into Lake Ontario; through the Middle of said Lake until it
strikes the Communication by Water between that Lake & Lake Erie; Thence along the middle of
said Communication into Lake Erie, through the middle of said Lake until it arrives at the Water
Communication between that lake & Lake Huron; Thence along the middle of said Water
Communication into the Lake Huron, thence through the middle of said Lake to the Water
Communication between that Lake and Lake Superior; thence through Lake Superior Northward
of the Isles Royal & Phelipeaux to the Long Lake; Thence through the middle of said Long Lake
and the Water Communication between it & the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake of the
Woods; Thence through the said Lake to the most Northwestern Point thereof, and from thence
on a due West Course to the river Mississippi; Thence by a Line to be drawn along the Middle of
the said river Mississippi until it shall intersect the Northernmost Part of the thirty-first Degree of
North Latitude, South, by a Line to be drawn due East from the Determination of the Line last
mentioned in the Latitude of thirty-one Degrees of the Equator to the middle of the River
Apalachicola or Catahouche; Thence along the middle thereof to its junction with the Flint River;
Thence straight to the Head of Saint Mary's River, and thence down along the middle of Saint
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS • 600 E. LOCUST ST. • DES MOINES, IA 50319 • IOWACULTURE.GOV
Mary's River to the Atlantic Ocean...
Article 7th:
There shall be a firm and perpetual Peace between his Britanic Majesty and the said States, and
between the Subjects of the one and the Citizens of the other, wherefore all Hostilities both by
Sea and Land shall from henceforth cease: All prisoners on both Sides shall be set at Liberty,
and his Britanic Majesty shall with all convenient speed... withdraw all his Armies, Garrisons &
Fleets from the said United States, and from every Post, Place and Harbour within the same;
leaving in all Fortifications, the American Artillery that may be therein...
Article 8th:
The Navigation of the river Mississippi, from its source to the Ocean, shall forever remain free
and open to the Subjects of Great Britain and the Citizens of the United States...
Article 10th:
The solemn Ratifications of the present Treaty expedited in good & due Form shall be
exchanged between the contracting Parties in the Space of Six Months or sooner if possible to
be computed from the Day of the Signature of the present Treaty. In witness whereof we the
undersigned their Ministers Plenipotentiary have in their Name and in Virtue of our Full Powers,
signed with our Hands the present Definitive Treaty, and caused the Seals of our Arms to be
affixed thereto.
Done at Paris, this third day of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred
and eighty-three.
D HARTLEY (SEAL)
JOHN ADAMS (SEAL)
B FRANKLIN (SEAL)
JOHN JAY (SEAL)
